Lnescuh
by Riona
Summary: [unfinished, on hold] GippalxBaralai. Gippal proposes a regrouping of the Crimson Squad, in the hope that he can find something else...
1. Ryncr Mekrd uv Tyo

((Author's Note: It's been ages since I last attempted an extended piece of writing, and so I thought I'd see whether I could pull it off. This is going to be a multi-chaptered Gippal/Baralai fic. Whatever you do, don't let me abandon it – just once, I'd like to _finish_ a chaptered fic.

This is just the prologue. It's extremely short. Chapter One should be up reasonably soon.)) 

**Prologue: Ryncr Mekrd uv Tyo**

_"Baralai?"_

_"Yes?" He glances up from polishing the steel rings of his weapon, unsurprised by the interruption. Gippal smiles awkwardly and sits beside him on the wooden deck._

_"Got somethin' to ask you."_

_"What is it?" asks Baralai, mildly curious. The Al Bhed searches for how to word his query – query? Confession? – without scaring his friend out of his wits._

Baralai is an amazing person.

Outwardly, he seems frail. His soft-spoken attitude and innate politeness make him appear to be an easy opponent, a 'bicrujan', to use some Al Bhed slang.

Gippal made the same mistake of judgement the first time he met Baralai. _(That guy can't want to join the Crimson Squad, can he? He wouldn't last five seconds.)_ But Baralai possesses incredible strength of both mind and body, and by now Gippal knows that better than anyone.

_"...yeah, so that's pretty much it. Um, so what do you think?" His voice is unusually nervous as he glances over at Baralai, wanting to see how he takes it, and he is frightened by the lack of emotion on his face._

_"Baralai?"_

_Baralai hesitates before responding. "That was... unexpected. I'm not really sure what to say."_

_"I guess that's a no, then," murmurs Gippal, trying and failing to hide the bitter disappointment in his voice. "Sorry 'bout that, B. Forget I ever said anything." He stands and turns to leave._

_"Wait."_

_He doesn't._

_  
Baralai gets to his feet and runs after him, the sound softened by his boots. He catches Gippal by the wrist._

_"I said it was unexpected." He smirks. "I didn't say that I wasn't flattered by it... or that I thought we couldn't make it work."_

_Gippal turns slowly, a grin spreading over his face._

Baralai is everything that Gippal ever wanted, something beautiful and pure and _perfect._ He never believed, before he met him, that such a thing could even _exist._ He's not even sure that he believes it now.

He never thought that he could be...

_pressing him against the wall, hands on his shoulders as you lean in to take his lips with your own. he inhales sharply at your touch, closing his eyes, and then..._

_and then..._

_and then_

_you_

_wake_

_up._


	2. Najecedydeuh

Chapter One: Najecedydeuh 

"Praetor Baralai!"

Baralai gave the terms of the Youth League treaty one more glance before signing it - there would be no more warring between the factions. That done, he set the papers aside and looked up. "What is it, Daibur?"

Daibur gave the traditional Yevon bow and straightened up. "There is an Al Bhed man here, Praetor. He demands to see you."

Baralai sighed inwardly – knowing Daibur, he could guess what was coming next. "So why haven't you sent him in? I told you, I don't need you to filter my guests."

Daibur's expression of shocked indignation gave the impression that Baralai had just ordered the destruction of Zanarkand Temple, rather than politely asked to see a visitor. "But Praetor – he's an _Al Bhed!_ They turned their backs on the teachings; they have turned Djose Temple into a place of Sin, filled with forbidden machina..."

"Daibur, 'a place of Sin' has no meaning now. Sin has been defeated, and so there are no longer any places that can attract It."

"Praetor, the reason Sin appeared in the first place was because of the machina. If these Al Bhed scum are to continue in their treacherous work, how do we know that Sin will not appear again?"

There was no sign of Baralai's anger other than a slight narrowing of the eyes – he had learned, long ago, how to hide his emotions. "Why did you come to speak to me about this?"

"I had to know whether you wanted us to send him away."

"And if I had ordered you to?"

"We would have forced him to leave Bevelle."

Baralai nodded. "At gunpoint?"

A pause. "...yes. But these guns are not machina – they are machines! There is a difference!"

The Praetor smiled slightly, leaning back in his chair. "Well then, you should have no problem with the Al Bhed. As I hear it, what they are building at Djose are machines. Not machina. And if a soldier of New Yevon uses machines, surely they cannot oppose the teachings?"

"But..."

Baralai stood. "Is the Al Bhed in front of the temple?"

"Yes, but..."

"I'm going to see him. Order your men to withdraw." He walked silently past the stunned Daibur and stepped onto the lift.

* * *

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Really. It had.

Driven by vague recollections of how listening to or singing a song that was constantly playing in the mind would sometimes succeed in purging it, Gippal had come up with his 'brilliant plan'. If that was the case, he reasoned, then surely there was a chance that seeing and speaking to Baralai might cure him of his bizarre obsession. Baralai wouldn't be hurt, and Gippal would no longer desire the unattainable. Perfect!

The doors of the temple swung slowly open, and Baralai stood there, staring at Gippal with undisguised amazement.

"Gippal?"

..._At the time,_ it had seemed to be a good idea.

"Hi," offered Gippal weakly.

"Nice to see you," Baralai said, composing himself. "What brings you to Bevelle?"

Er. Right. Of course he was going to ask that.

Somehow, when Gippal pictured this, it was easy. He came to Bevelle, Baralai came out to see him, and ta-da! Job done. No more inappropriate thoughts about the Praetor of New Yevon. He'd forgotten that, at some point, he would probably have to give a reason for being there.  
  
Well, Gippal couldn't tell him the real reason, of course. His 'brilliant plan' didn't seem to be working quite as well as he had hoped, and he didn't want to lose his friend over this. Equally he couldn't just stand there and look stupid, because _nobody_ would be insane enough to go all the way from Djose to Bevelle for no reason.

...Maybe he could pretend that he'd forgotten his reason on the way here?

("Hi Baralai! I just travelled for hour after hour to get here, but I seem to have forgotten why. Isn't that odd, now?")

...Maybe not.

_Okay, Gippal, say something. It doesn't matter what it is, just give some reason for your coming here._

"I... needed some exercise, so I went for a walk, and I kind of ended up here."

_Something BELIEVABLE, you idiot!_

Baralai raised an eyebrow. "You... I'm sorry, what?"

Gippal laughed too loudly. "I'm kidding! No, I just came here to visit you. I don't need a _reason _to visit a friend, right?" He paused. "...Oh, of _course!_"

Now thoroughly confused, Baralai came forward. "Gippal, is something wrong?"

He shook his head violently, grinning now. "No! No, I'm fine. I just wanted to ask you... you know those Crimson Spheres that Cid's girl and her friends picked up? Have you seen them yet?"

"No, but..."

"Well, they weren't all there, y'know? So I thought we could go look for the other spheres. Might be fun."

Baralai paused. He may have been good at disguising his feelings, but Gippal knew him all too well and could tell that he was intrigued. "...I can't. I have to look after New Yevon."

"Aw, c'mon! We can all go together. It'll be just like the old times."

"Nooj and Paine? Have you asked them yet?"

Gippal hesitated. "Nah, but I was gonna go see them just after persuading you. I mean, what kind of adventure would it be without Nooj?" He stiffened his left arm and leg, speaking in a passable imitation of Nooj's voice. "Greetings. I... am Nooj. Death death death DEATH death death death. Brats."

Baralai tried to hide his laughter, without success. "It sounds great."

"So you're coming?" asked Gippal, hopefully.

He sighed and shook his head. "I told you, I can't. Somebody has to keep control of New Yevon."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be you, right?"

"Who else would I appoint? Daibur?"

"I don't know who that is, but if you think he can handle it... sure!"

Baralai laughed softly. "Daibur's the last person I would want as a praetor."

"Look, just find someone. Drag them in off the street if you have to, I don't care. You've abandoned your post before, right? Look -" Gippal caught a passing woman by her collar, and she yelped in terror. "You. D'you think you'd be able to look after Bevelle for a while? The praetor's taking a break."

She didn't respond, instead throwing frantic glances at Baralai in a silent plea for help. Baralai tried his hardest to look stern, managing – with a magnificent effort of will – not to burst out laughing.

"Let go of her, Gippal."

"Just let her answer the question, okay? Would you be able to take care of New Yevon?"

"I... couldn't really say," she managed, choosing her words carefully to avoid provoking this madman. Gippal let go of her collar.

"Tch. Fine."

"And you wonder why so many people are afraid of the Al Bhed," mock-chided Baralai, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah. So, are you coming or not?"

Baralai paused. The prospect of getting away from the workload of a Praetor was an attractive one, certainly... and the members of New Yevon were mostly adults, they could handle themselves...

"Baralai?"

"I'll find someone to take my place." He smiled. "I'll come."

Gippal nodded and smirked triumphantly. "Knew you couldn't resist."

Although he _was_ interested in finding the remaining Crimson Spheres, Gippal had another motive, although he didn't tell Baralai this.

_If I'm going to desire the unattainable, _he decided, _I might as well try to attain it._


	3. Naiheuh

(Author's Note: Thanks to Eva Kasumi, who was kind enough to beta-read this chapter for me. You _rock, _Eva.)

**Chapter Two: Naiheuh**

"Nooj! Hey, Nooj!"

"I don't think he can hear you," observed Baralai, somewhat amused. Gippal paused in his frantic attempts to catch Nooj's attention in order to shoot him a disbelieving glance.

"Oh, he can hear me. He's just pretending not to – you'll see." Cupping his hands over his mouth, Gippal began yelling again. "Noojster! Noojie-Woojie, talk to me!"

This, at last, got a response. Meyvn Nooj turned around, eyes narrowed.

"What is it, brat?" Gippal mouthed the line at the same time as Nooj said it, and Baralai began to laugh uncontrollably. Seeing him, Nooj paused. "You shouldn't be here. We may have pledged an end to hostilities, but there are still people here who are... less than fond of the Praetor of New Yevon."

"You're too paranoid, Noojie," Gippal said, swaggering towards him. Nooj seemed almost to twitch again, and Gippal immediately adopted 'Noojie-Woojie' as his new favourite nickname. "Baralai is alive and well, in case you hadn't noticed. And we have a proposal for you."

"Make it quick. I've got work to do."

Gippal flashed his companion a smile and mouthed 'Such a charming man!' Turning back to Nooj, he nodded in mock-seriousness. "I see. Plotting against New Yevon, no doubt... because we all know that the best time to attack is just after signing a peace treaty. They'll never expect it!"

"Which is why I was so concerned for the other brat," said Nooj, turning away and walking towards the Youth League building. Gippal simply stood with mouth agape, unable to comprehend how his magnificent display of sarcasm could be so utterly lost on the man.

"Come on," Nooj called back. "If it's important, we should discuss it in headquarters."

"Did you _hear that?_" Gippal asked in disbelief. "Is it just me, or did he think I was being _serious?_ 'Cause if he did, I think I might be having second thoughts about this whole sphere hunt thing."

Baralai smirked. "He understood you, you know. He just knew that acting as if he didn't would throw you off."

Gippal gave an overdramatic sigh. "Ever the sly one, our Noojie-Woojie."

"Oh, Yevon. You're going to be calling him that the whole time, aren't you?"

"But of course!" The Al Bhed grinned cheerfully, gave a sarcastic salute and set off towards the building. Baralai rolled his eyes and followed.

* * *

"So, that's what we're planning to do. You coming?" Gippal lounged in a chair, smirking insolently at the man on the other side of the desk. Nooj raised an eyebrow.

"You're suggesting that I leave my post as Meyvn of the Youth League? Just so I can go off with you brats and look for some spheres of things that we already know happened?"

"That's the general idea, yes." Nooj was even harder to read than Baralai. Gippal couldn't tell whether he was actually considering the proposal or not. "And as for leaving the Youth League, clearly New Yevon and the Machine Faction will be missing their leaders as well. See? Fairness." Nooj began to speak, but Gippal pressed on. "We're gonna dissolve the factions sometime soon anyway, right? 'All riding the ship together' and stuff. Right?"

The Mevyn seemed to consider. "Will Paine be going?"

"But of course! We're all going. The Crimson Squad, reunited... perfect, yeah?" He propped his feet up on the desk, then quickly dropped them back to the floor upon seeing Nooj's expression. Gippal heard Baralai snickering behind him, and made a mental note to glare at him later.

"Why isn't she here?"

Gippal grinned. "It's 'cause we haven't asked her yet."

"You're that sure she'll be willing to go?" asked Nooj.

"Hey, who can resist my incredible charm?" Gippal winked and stood, swaggering over to the other side of the desk. "Yeah, she'll go. And so will you..." throwing his arm across Nooj's shoulders and pausing dramatically... "Noojie-Woojie."

"This is your idea of persuasion?" asked Baralai, amused.

"Well, I don't exactly see him leaping at the opportunity. Seduction is the only weapon I have, eh, Noojie?" He paused. "That, and my rocket-launcher-machina gun. D'you think that'd be more effective?"

"I do not -" began Nooj, but once again Gippal cut him off.

"Say, it might be a pretty dangerous journey, Noojie-boy. You might even _die_. That interest you?"

Nooj chose to ignore that. "What will our transport be?"

"'Our'?" He grinned triumphantly. "You're coming? Great! Thought I might have to sleep with you or something before you finally gave in -"

"I'm not promising anything. What's our transport?"

Gippal smiled sheepishly, letting go and retreating to his side of the desk. "Yeah, that. Um... hey, how about we walk? Bet you could use the exercise, right, Noojster?"

"We have no transport." It wasn't a question. "The remaining Crimson Spheres could be anywhere on Spira, and you suggest that we _walk_?"

"...yeah..." he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head, "...kinda..."

"I think he might actually persuade me _not_ to go," Baralai whispered to Gippal. "I'm not entirely sure that that was your intention."

"Okay then, Noojie," said the Al Bhed, trying to ignore Baralai's close proximity. "What's _your_ brilliant idea?"

"I have no responsibility in this. It's your plan. But if you get some transport and persuade Paine to join you, I might be willing to come along. I still can't promise anything, though."

"Fine. Um... we can persuade Paine, we'll manage that. And then we can... uh..." A flash of inspiration hit him, and he grinned widely. "We can borrow the Celsius!"

Baralai tilted his head, frowning a little. "Gippal... can't you see anything _wrong_ with that plan?"

"What are you talking about? It's perfect! How dare you doubt my perfect plan?" he cried overdramatically, before becoming more serious. "Brother hates me, doesn't he?"

"Well... in all honesty, even if he doesn't, most people won't just _lend you _an airship."

"I helped design that airship! Surely they owe me _something!_"

"Why don't you get your workers to build a new one?"

"Because," he said wearily, "it will take _years._ And I _really_ don't want to wait that long."

Baralai nodded thoughtfully. "Point taken."

"I guess we'll go see Paine, then. We can sort out the transport later. Seeya, Noojie."

"Good luck," responded Nooj, sounding almost amused.

* * *

"So... explain to me again why I should come?"

"It'll be fun! And you'll get to watch all those recordings of our journey!"

"...that I recorded. And so I know exactly what is on all of them."

"Well, the 'it'll be fun' still stands."

"Which part is the fun part?" asked Paine, leaning back on the metal wall of the cabin. The two of them had picked up a functional CommSphere from the Mi'ihen Highroad, and used it to call the Celsius. Although Gippal hated to admit it, he had no choice but to admire Shinra. The kid could make some truly brilliant things.

"C'mon! You, me, B and Noojie? It'll be just like the old times!"

"Don't call him that. Please. One LeBlanc is bad enough." She paused, glancing around the cabin. "Where is Nooj, anyway?"

"Oh, he's already coming," lied Gippal smoothly. "He just had to take care of some stuff at the YL before he left."

"So, you three are all going. Nice. But I still don't see why _I_ should come."

"Okay then," began Gippal. "Picture the scene. Gippal, Baralai and Noojie-Woojie are on a sphere hunt. Lo and behold, we see a sphere! ...but it is guarded by an indescribably huge and hideous monster. To attack it would _obviously _be suicide. Paine points this out, as she always does – but what's this? She refused to come with us? Too blinded by greed and adrenaline to realise the danger and without our 'Voice of Reason', the three of us rush to engage the beast in combat..."

Paine almost flinched. "Surely _you_ would realise that it was suicide, Baralai? You're the most sensible of them when it comes to these things."

Baralai shrugged. "I don't know... I was foolish enough to attack the Gullwings..." he reminded her. She pressed a hand to her forehead, shaking her head in an overdramatic display of exasperation.

"It was to keep us from Vegnagun. You thought that you had no choice."

Gippal leapt back into the conversation at this opportunity. "So he thinks that there's no choice here! It's hard to think clearly when you're in combat, but I know you can do it. Besides, you're the most experienced fighter out of all of us, now."

She folded her arms, tilting her head slightly and considering. "...Okay, I'll go with you. If only to make sure that you don't do anything stupid."

"Knew you'd come around," said Gippal cheerfully, patting her on the back. "Oh, and one more thing..."

"What is it?"

"Can we borrow the Celsius?"

"_What?_"

He grinned. "Yeah, we're kind of short on transport. We'll need the airship."

Paine stared at him. "Gippal... Rikku and Buddy have nowhere else to live. And Brother won't let anyone else fly it."

For a moment Gippal seemed thrown by this, but then he recovered. "So they can stay! I can't read sphere waves, anyway. It'll be useful to have someone here who can." He hesitated, looking at Baralai. "I... know you were meant to be our navigator, Baralai. I'm sorry." Then he brightened. "But hey, our pilot's missing out on her job too, and you can always just relax in the cabin when I'm screaming at the engines. Right?"

She still looked doubtful. "Well, if you can persuade Brother to let you stay here... I guess we could use the Celsius."

"That's great! See, B, I told you it'd be okay!"

"You don't know that," Baralai pointed out mildly. "You haven't spoken to Brother yet. And Nooj may still not want to come."

Gippal smirked at him. "Oh, I'll win. Believe me, Baralai... I _always_ win."

* * *

The arrival of the Celsius at Mushroom Rock was... unexpected, to say the least.

The Meyvn had been on his way to check Yaibal's progress on the ravine when he felt the blast of air. He looked up and watched in disbelief as the impossibly large crimson airship came soaring over the rocky walls, the downdraft from it blasting dust off the path and into the sky.

He was surprised enough _before _he saw a familiar figure balanced precariously on the side, holding onto a piece of metal that jutted out of the main body and waving at him vigorously. Squinting through the rock dust, Nooj discerned the figures of Baralai and Paine half-crouching on the deck behind him.

Gippal seemed to be yelling something, but Nooj was unable to make it out over the roar of the engines. Seeming to realise this, the Al Bhed man made a series of complicated hand gestures intended to convey that they had acquired both Paine and transport, and almost fell off the Celsius as a result. Baralai and Paine, who seemed to have been expecting something like this, managed to catch his arms and haul him back up onto the deck.

Realising that they were going to land, Nooj pressed himself against the side of the Road and watched the airship as it came to rest. Gippal leapt off the deck and landed neatly in front of him, grinning like a maniac.

"So, you coming?"

* * *

"I thought that he had already persuaded Nooj to come with us," murmured Paine, frowning slightly as she watched the discussion – Nooj's quiet responses, Gippal's bribery, flattery and outright begging – play out before them.

Baralai smiled to himself. "I thought you knew better than to trust Gippal on this."

She laughed softly. "Point taken. Seems to be good at getting what he wants, doesn't he?" she observed, noting that Nooj seemed to be weakening in the face of so much determination and energy.

"Yeah, I guess..." Baralai murmured, leaning against the outside of the lift. "You can tell that Nooj really _wants_ to go, though. What I don't understand is how he managed to convince Brother. What happened _there?_"

Paine smirked. "You really should have seen it. In the end, Gippal agreed to maintain the engines, clean the Celsius twice a month and act as Yuna's bodyguard whenever she goes anywhere dangerous. Not that she _needs _one, but Brother seems to find that difficult to comprehend."

He laughed and turned back to watch Gippal's enthusiastic attempts at persuasion. "He must _really_ want to find those spheres."

Watching the outcome of the 'dramatic entrance' that the Al Bhed had spent so long planning, Baralai came to the conclusion that Gippal in his regular state was bad enough...

...but a triumphant Gippal – a triumphant Gippal with a _project_ – was nothing short of terrifying.


	4. Secceuh Desa

**Chapter Three: Secceuh Desa!**

"Hey, Crimson Squad?" Buddy's voice crackled over the intercom, and Gippal – who had been on the verge of falling asleep – twitched violently and fell off the bed. He pushed himself up off the floor and glared viciously at Baralai, who was sitting on the adjoining bed and shaking with silent laughter. "Found something that might interest you guys. Come up to the bridge."

Swearing under his breath, Gippal somehow managed to stumble down the stairs, along the corridor and into the lift with Baralai supporting him. His companion pressed the button for the bridge and waited as the doors slid closed. Gippal leant against the side of the lift and breathed deeply, waiting for his eyes to refocus.

Yevon, but he was tired.

The doors opened, and Baralai was once again forced to half-drag Gippal through the corridors of the Celsius. "What did you _do _last night?" he hissed through gritted teeth.

Gippal blinked, considering. "Engine fault." He yawned widely. "Had to fix. Took..." he tried counting on his fingers, but quickly gave up, "...lots of hours. Too many hours."

Baralai rolled his eyes. "Touch the save sphere." The 'Save Spheres' had existed for as long as anyone could remember – dating back to the original Zanarkand, some said. They were installed at strategic points throughout Spira and built into all new airships. Touching one would restore your energy and heal your wounds over a short period of time, having much the same effect as a good night's sleep. Overuse of a particular save sphere, however, would weaken the magic and eventually render it useless – Brother had threatened Gippal with a slow and painful death if he ever used the airship's Sphere.

Not that he paid any real attention to Brother's threats.

Gippal obediently flopped onto the save sphere. The blue light surrounded him, and he smiled as his headache eased and tiredness lessened. "Excellent. Okay, let's see what Buddy's got."

* * *

"It's a sphere," explained Buddy, leaning back in his chair. "Out in the Bikanel Desert. What with your history there and all, I thought it might be what you guys're looking for."

"The Desert..." repeated Paine, thoughtfully. "Can you tell us which section?"

"I'm pretty sure that the waves are coming from the Central Expanse. If you need anything more specific, I can't help you."

"The Expanse is huge," Baralai reminded everyone unnecessarily. "If we get lost and run out of water..." He didn't need to finish his sentence. The Crimson Squad all knew the dangers that they would be facing if they went down there.

"I've finished developing a flying version of the CommSphere," said Shinra calmly from behind them. "It hasn't been tested yet, but it should definitely work. If you take it down there with you, you'll be able to communicate with the airship at any time."

Baralai smiled slightly, relieved. "That should be okay, then. Are we going straight away?"

Gippal nodded, gaining strength by the minute as the lingering magic of the Save Point continued to work on him. "'Course. There are loads of treasure hunters in the Desert now, and if we don't find it soon someone else might run off with it. Everyone ready?" Turning, he saw Rikku leaning against the wall and watching them with interest. "Hey Rikku, can you bring some water up here for us?" She muttered something unflattering in Al Bhed and stuck her tongue out at him before grinning and heading out the door, presumably to get some water from the Cabin.

...If she _wasn't_ going to get the water, she would have an extremely irate Gippal to deal with.

* * *

The desert, observed Gippal, had a lot of sand.

This was hardly surprising. Deserts _tend_ to contain rather large quantities of sand, and he was perfectly aware of this, having been either living in or working in the Bikanel Desert for much of his life.

The thing that was easy to forget was not _how much_ sand there was; rather, it was _just how irritating_ that sand could be.

Grains of sand worked their way under the fingernails. That was annoying, but tolerable.

The sand became trapped under his eyepatch, irritating the old injury there. Grains worked their way into his gun, clogging the mechanics and preventing it from firing.

That was... somewhat more serious.

The high wind whipped the sand up into a frenzy and flung it against him, into his face, into his eye. He raised a hand to protect his vision and squinted, trying – without success – to make out the other members of the Squad through the blinding sandstorm. As he moved, the makeshift bandage that Baralai had wrapped around his upper arm shifted, and he winced as the movement made the sand trapped beneath it scrape against the wound.

This would never have happened, he reflected bitterly, if it wasn't for the sand.

The mission had started well enough, as he recalled. The airship had landed on the uneven ground of the Central Expanse without any real problems, and the four of them had managed easily enough to disembark... they had been overly confident, he supposed. There was no sign of any fiends, the water supply was plentiful, the winds around were a mere shadow of the harsh winds that all too often plagued the desert. The four of them were all expert fighters (Paine in particular – by the end of the Vegnagun Incident, she had become one of the most powerful warriors in the world), and they had an easy way of communicating with the Celsius. What could possibly go wrong?

...Gippal had been either living or working in the Bikanel Desert for most of his life, but he had _never_ seen _anything _like that... that _thing_.

The chain of events had been most unfortunate. Although the winds were low at first, grains of sand (sand _again!_ How could something so _tiny_ be so _irritating?_) still managed to get into Nooj's mechanical leg, and he had some difficulty walking. They had paused to allow him to wrap some of the bandages that they had brought around the joints in his left leg and arm, a barrier that – they hoped – would keep some of the bloody stuff out. The delay was increased when they were unexpectedly attacked by a small and doglike fiend, which managed to take an impressive chunk out of Gippal's arm before Baralai struck it down.

Had they carried on moving, they would probably have missed the creature.

Their first sign of its presence was a low rumbling sound, the ground beneath them seeming to shake. The four of them thought that it was a minor earthquake at first, but then Rikku's voice came over the CommSphere.

"Um... guys? Maybe you should look behind you."

Baralai turned instantly – and stood, frozen in shock. "What _is _that thing?"

"That is the Angra Mainyu," Gippal heard Paine say, before he turned around.

And swore. Violently.

And then the _thing_ – the 'Angra Mainyu' – intoned "Unnatural Selection".

Gippal remembered little of what happened after that.

* * *

The storm had cleared, and still the other three were nowhere to be found.

A young Al Bhed man stumbled along, the bottle of water that he was carrying almost empty. He had brought a number of other bottles, but he suspected that they had been lost after the Angra Mainyu blasted him into the air.

Damn giant monsters.

He vaguely recalled Baralai's words before they landed in the desert, after finding out that they would be travelling with a CommSphere (which was also, joy of joys, nowhere in sight). Baralai had said... he had said that they would be fine. Because nothing could _possibly_ go wrong when they had a link back to the airship, now _could_ it?

And Gippal had believed him.

_If I survive this, I am _never_ trusting Baralai again, _he thought, not for the first time. He laughed shortly, wincing at the pain in his throat as he did so, and then choked on the sand in his mouth. Gippal coughed harshly, watching with detached interest as a little blood spattered the ground.

_Should've studied White Magic more thoroughly, _he thought, smirking despite the situation. _But no, Gippal, always thought that your Baralai in Shining Robes would be able to help you out. Eteud._

Gippal finished off the last of the water, fell to the ground, and passed out.


	5. Vmendehk yht Vmivvehacc

Many thanks again to Eva (my _wonderful_ beta), and all of my reviewers. Love you guys! 

**Chapter Four: Vmendehk yht Vmivvehacc**

When Gippal came to, the first thing he became aware of was just how dry his throat was.

This surprised him. Having spent most of his life in the Desert, he was accustomed to thirst. He _knew _that he could go for a remarkably long time without water... so why in Spira was he feeling thirsty on the Celsius, where water was plentiful?

Frowning, he started to notice other odd things. His bed on the Celsius was not normally so hard and gritty, and it was not usually quite so hot. Gippal was reasonably comfortable with the heat, being born and raised in the Bikanel Desert, but the _reason_ for the Celsius being this warm continued to elude him.

Gradually the thought that this might not actually _be_ the airship dawned on him, and he opened his eye.

The Desert... of _course_. He remembered, now, the events that had led up to his eventual collapse. It did strike him as slightly odd that there was rock above him – was he in a cave? He hadn't been in a cave when he fell, had he? – but that did not surprise him nearly so much as the fact that he appeared to be, inexplicably and without any good reason to be so, alive.

He wondered for a moment if he _was_ dead. It would hardly surprise him if some Higher Power had redesigned the Farplane to resemble Bikanel Desert exactly, just to confuse people. He imagined the creator of the Farplane to be sitting on a throne somewhere, watching the bewildered dead – "What? I was just hacked to pieces on the Highroad – how in Yevon's name can I still be alive? How could being torn apart teleport me to the _Desert_, of all places?" – and laughing insanely.

...After all, if it were up to him, Gippal would probably have done the exact same thing. A little cruel, perhaps, but he had to admit that it would be _immensely_ entertaining.

Interesting as the train of thought was, the Al Bhed had other concerns. Dead or not dead, he was ridiculously thirsty, and this being the Desert (or an extremely convincing replica of it, at any rate), it seemed unlikely that any water was going to magically appear if he just carried on lying where he was.

Gippal propped himself up on his elbows with some difficulty – his joints were still incredibly stiff – caught sight of the other inhabitant in the cave, swore in Al Bhed, and dropped back down again.

Clearly, he was hallucinating. There was no good reason for Baralai to be there in the cave with him... well, obviously he'd come along on the mission, but Hallucination!Baralai had the CommSphere with him. If he were real, he would definitely have been sensible enough to call the Celsius and get the hell out of the Desert. Definitely.

"Gippal?"

...Unless he really _was_ dead. Maybe they were both dead, stuck in the fake Bikanel Desert of the Farplane.

Gippal had apparently gone from ironically speculating about the _possibility_ of someone tampering with the design of the Farplane to being bizarrely _convinced_ that this was the case. He noted this fact with some interest. Perhaps he was going insane.

"You're awake? ...Gippal?"

_You can't be dead. Dead people aren't supposed to feel thirst, _his mind reminded him, and he grimaced. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked up to see his beautiful – his _painfully_ beautiful – hallucination offering him a bottle of water.

Definitely not the real Baralai. The real Baralai would _never_ take his headband off. A pity, really, because if the person wasn't real... it seemed unlikely that the water would be.

Still. Worth a shot.

Gippal took the water gratefully, thanked Hallucination!Baralai and finished it off in seconds. He was astonished to find that the water _did,_ in fact, appear to be real. And if the water was real...

"Baralai?"

"Yes?"

To Baralai's surprise and considerable alarm, Gippal burst out into hysterical laughter before leaping to his feet and hugging him violently. "You're alive!"

"So it would seem," he responded dryly.

"That's great. Where are we?"

Baralai frowned slightly and glanced around him. "...in the Bikanel Desert... in a cave."

"Yeah, yeah. Anything more specific?"

He shrugged. "Not really."

"Brilliant." Gippal indicated the CommSphere with a wave of his hand. "Why haven't you called the airship yet?" he asked, curious. "CommSphere's not broken, is it?"

Baralai laughed softly. "We haven't finished the mission yet, have we?"

Gippal stared at him, incredulous. "...Can't believe that you actually remembered about the mission. After all that stuff with the Angra Mainyu, all _I_ could think about was getting back to the Celsius."

"That's why you need someone like me around," said Baralai, smiling just a little. "If I weren't here, you would never get anything done."

"Yeah, whatever." He paused briefly. "...So, the mission was the only reason you stayed here?"

"Well, obviously I wanted to find you, too."

"Yeah? ...What about the others?"

"They were with me. They went up to the Celsius to have a rest before carrying on the mission."

"And you were the _only_ person who stayed here? Gee, I feel so loved."

Baralai shook his head. "They stayed until we found you. I just stayed behind to make sure that you didn't wander off after you woke up."

"Ah, I see." He smirked. "You were worried about me, right?"

The praetor rolled his eyes. "Actually, Gippal, I gave up a warm bed and decent food just so I could tell you how much I _despise_ you."

Gippal stared at him for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. "...Yeah, you're right. Really stupid question."

"Did you think I was serious?" asked Baralai, sitting on the stony floor of the cave. Gippal shrugged and sat down next to him.

"You didn't use much inflection. It's kind of hard to tell." A pause. "So, uh... how long've I been out for?"

"I don't know how long you had been unconscious for when I found you, but since I took you back here it's been... four, maybe five hours?"

"Boring?" asked Gippal, leaning back against the other man.

Baralai groaned and closed his eyes. "You have _no idea._"

"Heh." Gippal remembered something, and frowned slightly. "Uh... where'd your headband go?"

"My... oh. After that fiend attacked you, I used it to bandage your arm. Remember?"

"That was your _headband?_" He raised his arm to check it, and was surprised to find that the bandage was no longer there – the wound had gone, too, only bruised skin and the rip in his clothing showing that there had been an injury there. "Where's it gone?"

"After I cast Cura on your wounds, I threw it away. I felt that people might be a little afraid of me if I went about my duties with bloodstained fabric in my hair."

"You threw it _away?_" This was inconceivable. To Gippal, at least, the ever-present headband was one of the defining points of Baralai – it was one of the things that made the praetor _who he was_. Baralai glanced around and laughed at the expression of frozen horror on his face.

"It wasn't my only one, you know."

Gippal laughed a little, relieved. "That's good." He turned around, touched Baralai's hair lightly. "I'd hate it if you didn't have your headband. It really suits you."

"You're strange, Gippal," murmured Baralai with a slight smile, closing his eyes. Gippal grinned and laughed again, softly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know."

* * *

"Baralai?"

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you cast magic as soon as that dog-thing attacked me?"

Baralai blinked, considering. "I guess it's because I didn't have time to clean the wound. If there had been any sand in it, it would have been sealed into your arm when I cast the spell." He shrugged. "Not the most pleasant thing in the world, so I just bandaged it."

"With your headband."

"There wasn't anything else. Why do you keep fixating on that?"

Gippal shrugged as best he could, lying on his back near the cave entrance. "No reason. Well, no _real_ reason. I'm just surprised that you managed to think of that."

"It was the obvious thing to do."

"Eh. Maybe you think so, but I would never have realised that." He rolled over to better see Baralai, who was sitting against the cave wall a few feet away. "Bet you plan for these things, don't you?"

Baralai flushed. "Maybe."

Gippal laughed to himself, rolling back to his original position. "Prepared for all eventualities, eh? You're turning into Noojie, you know that?"

"Turning into... what makes you say that?" asked Baralai, confused.

"You know Noojie – he's always got to be _prepared_. 'What if the sphere is across a ravine with a six-hundred-foot drop, suspended above a seven-by-nine-metre area of poisoned spikes, guarded by a Dark Aeon, and connected to an alarm system that will call the entirety of the Thieves Guild when triggered?' To which the answer would be, 'Sod it, I'm going to bed'. Y'see? A plan for every possibility. You're turning into Nooj."

Baralai hid his smirk. "...I doubt that _thinking about what to do when a friend is injured_ is quite on the same level."

"Going in the same direction, though. Come next year you'll be looking for death and having annoying young women calling you 'Barry-Warry'."

Baralai winced. "You're not going to call me that now, are you?"

"What, 'Barry-Warry'?" Gippal repeated the name a few times, experimentally, much to the chagrin of Baralai himself. "...Nah, it sounds kind of stupid."

"And 'Noojie-Woojie' doesn't?"

"Oh, come on. 'Noojie-Woojie' suits him _perfectly_, wouldn't you say?"

He laughed. "Yes, 'Noojie-Woojie' is an entirely appropriate name for the most serious man I know."

"Look, B, I'm _this_ far away from calling you Barry-Warry. Don't push your luck." Baralai held up his hands in mock-surrender. Gippal grinned and looked back up at the ceiling.

"So, when're we carrying on our mission?"

Baralai shrugged. "I thought we might go up to the Celsius and rest first. I've used up most of my magic reserves, and I left all my Ethers back on board. Anyway, we're almost out of water. I know that you really want to find these Spheres, but I'm pretty sure that you didn't want us all to die in the attempt."

"How on Spira did you figure _that_ out?" asked Gippal, all astonishment and sarcasm. "Most people think that I just organised this whole thing as part of an elaborate plot to kill my friends."

"Nooj probably _does_ think that."

"Yeah, well. He's Nooj."

"I never would have guessed."

"Hey, _I'm_ the sarcastic one. _You're_ just here to look pretty and stop me doing anything stupid."

Baralai raised an eyebrow, looking over at Gippal, but the Al Bhed was facing the ceiling and Baralai was standing on his blind side. He hesitated a moment longer, then shrugged and activated the CommSphere.

Clearly, he was never, _ever_ going to understand what went through his friend's mind. There didn't seem to be much point in trying.


	6. Esbydeahla

**Chapter Five: Esbydeahla**

"We're leaving in three minutes," muttered Gippal in irritation. "What's taking that girl so long?"

"I told her to bring more water this time," explained Paine. "Clearly what we had with us the last time we went down there wasn't enough."

"It's going to weigh us down. We'll be travelling more slowly... we might have difficulty defeating fiends."

"Shut up, Noojie," suggested Gippal in a friendly manner – or at least as friendly as he could manage, being extremely impatient. "So long as we don't run into that... 'Angry Mainthing', we'll be fine." He heard steps behind him and turned around, fully prepared to belittle Rikku for taking so long; but it was Baralai who emerged into the bridge, adjusting his headband and glancing around.

"Are we leaving yet?"

"Yes, Baralai," Gippal said in exasperated tones. "We're going down into the desert without water, and then whoever dies last is the winner." He pushed past him and headed towards the lift, determined to find out what _that girl_ was up to.

* * *

Gippal knew, of course, that the _sensible_ thing to do – and certainly the least hypocritical – would be to march straight up to Rikku as soon as he entered the Cabin, demand to know what in Spira was taking her so long, and take the water up himself.

Upon entering the room and seeing her engrossed in a book, clearly oblivious to his presence, his Plan Of Action was somewhat thrown. Common sense battled with his ever-present desire to seize upon a poking-fun-at-Rikku opportunity... and failed miserably.

And that was why – of _course _– Gippal wasted a further fifteen minutes standing quietly behind Rikku, machina weapon drawn, waiting to see how long it would take her to notice him.

* * *

_Immediately following the blitzball game, the stadium was attacked. Dozens of fiends poured into the stands, and a number of Sahagin somehow entered the sphere itself, where they were disposed of by Wakka and the nameless young man from Zanarkand. Although they and the legendary Auron managed to defeat a number of the fiends, the true saviour of the people that day was Maester Seymour Guado... or so it appeared. For -_

As Rikku turned the page, the glint of metal in her peripheral vision caught her attention. She turned... and found herself staring down the barrel of a gun.

Quite understandably, she shrieked in terror and fell off the packing case.

Seconds later, Gippal was disarmed and pinned against the wall, Rikku's daggers at his neck. She withdrew them when she realised who it was, then slowly retreated to a safe distance, eyeing him suspiciously. He rubbed the back of his head and glared at her.

"What was _that_ for?" 

It was impossible to tell who asked it first, and neither seemed prepared to answer. Finally, Gippal burst out laughing. It took Rikku by surprise – it wasn't the most common reaction from people who were almost killed in error, after all.

"Okay," he managed at last. "Maybe I'm permanently crippled now, but that reaction was _completely _worth it."

She groaned. "That was a _joke?_"

" 'Course. You weren't hoping that it was _actually_ an attempt on your life, were you?"

She rolled her eyes and sat down again, picking up her copy of _The Legendary Pilgrimage: Maechen's Records of an Extraordinary Journey. _"Okay, fine." When Gippal still didn't leave, Rikku cast about for something witty to say and came up with a petulant, "...Well... I'm glad I attacked you, too!"

He snickered. She glared. All in all, it was a regular conversation between the two Al Bhed adventurers.

"Anyway, I came down to pick up the water," Gippal said, after watching her for a moment. "You _have_ been getting water for us, right?"

The words seemed to stir something in her; she frowned and mouthed _'have been getting'_ a couple of times. "Um, yeah, but..."

"Great. Where is it?"

"In the sacks, but... um... oh, yeah!" she said, remembering. "I got something for you and the other guys – wait a sec..." She rummaged in a box, then came out with what looked like a gun. "Here it is!"

Gippal examined it, frowning in confusion. "Um, Rikku... not that I don't appreciate this, but I already _have_ a pretty good weapon."

"No, it's not a real gun. So now you, Nooj and Baralai can all aim at each other without being in any danger. You seem to do it a lot, so I thought..." She trailed off, noticing Gippal's expression. "...um, did I... say something weird?"

Gippal stared at her. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and serious and not like him at all. "...That's not funny, Rikku."

"Um -"

"You went into the... the Den of Woe, didn't you?" He almost winced as he said it, the memory of _that place_ burned into his mind. "You attacked your friends, didn't you? Don't you _know_ how much it _hurts?_"

_(If this is what is takes.)_

"Yeah, um... I'm sorry, I -"

"No, it doesn't really matter. Just – don't mention it again, okay?"

"Um, okay." Rikku seemed about to say something else, but then thought better of it. She passed him a couple of large sacks. Gippal glanced inside to check that the water bottles were actually _in _there – he wouldn't put it past Rikku to forget – but they passed the inspection.

"Thanks, Rikku." He turned to leave.

"Hey, have you kissed him yet?" she asked curiously. Gippal paused.

"Hmmm? Nah, not yet," he responded almost automatically, before realising what the girl had just said. "...Uh, wait. I think there might be a mix-up of pronouns here."

Rikku frowned, mock-thoughtful. "Really? Let's see... _have you kissed him yet?_" she repeated experimentally, putting special emphasis on the 'him'. "...no, seems fine to me."

Gippal stared at her in disbelief. At last he spoke, trying to keep his tone level and joking. "...Look, I - I don't know what you're accusing me of, but -"

She rolled her eyes. "Drop it, Gippal."

"You _know?_"

Rikku blinked up at him, her expression far too innocent. "Why, Gippal, I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. Could you _please_ tell me this incredible secret? I'm sure that nobody could _ever_ figure it out, seeing as you're always _oh-so-subtle..._"

Gippal groaned, managing - with admirable self-control - to prevent himself from thwacking his own (or perhaps Rikku's) head against the wall of the airship. "You never used to be this sarcastic. I always thought that Paine was a bad influence."

She shrugged. "It was pretty easy to figure out, really. You're _obsessed_ with Baralai. I'm not _blind,_ y'know."

He sighed, sitting down and leaning back against the cold metal of the cabin wall. "...I'm starting to think that Baralai might be. Why can't _he _realise?"

"Maybe you should tell him?"

"Heh. You've gotta be kidding."

"Why's that?"

" 'Cause he'd hate me."

"And, of course, he'll fall in love with you _instantly_ if he figures it out because you keep _flirting_ with him."

"...Shut up."

"I could help you, y'know. We've got the recording from that flying CommSphere in our database. I could invite him to a screening of Gippal's Finest Flirting Moments, and we can see if he figures it out."

"_Shut. Up._"

"Aww, c'mon! It'll be fun!"

Gippal buried his head in his hands. "I am _not_ having this conversation with you." A thought struck him, and he looked a little surprised. "Wait a minute... you're _okay_ with this?"

Rikku tilted her head, staring at him incredulously. "Bit slow, aren't you?"

"I just... can't believe you're okay with this. Didn't you have a crush on me?"

She flushed and quickly broke eye contact, transferring her attention to one of her braids. "...Maybe. But, uh, I don't think I can compete. Not really."

"With _Baralai?_"

Rikku shrugged awkwardly. "...He's cute."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have breasts."

"_Banjand_. Like that matters to _you,_" she scoffed. Gippal sent her the best Evil Death Glare he could muster, and was annoyed to find that it was wasted – she still wasn't looking at him.

"Seriously, though..." he began.

Rikku interrupted him. "I mean... you really seem to care about Baralai, and stuff. And you care about me – I think – but I think that's more of a little sister thing, y'know?" She shook her head. "...It'd be nice if you'd fallen in love with me, but you haven't, and I've – I've got to _deal_ with that. I'm not going to be all insanely jealous and stuff. I'm not a little kid anymore, right?"

Gippal was taken aback; he hadn't realised that Rikku had matured so much. Then again, he reasoned, she _did_ save Spira. Twice.

_She's been through a lot, and I guess it must've really affected her. Those people she mentioned – Auron and Tidus – they were her friends, and she lost them. It isn't just Yuna who's been hurt by all this._

_...You should've thought of this before, Gippal, you idiot. Why didn't you talk about this to her earlier?_

"...Sorry."

_And that makes _perfect _sense as a response to the last thing she said._

_It does. Kind of._

_Sure. You know, Gippal... you talk to yourself too much._

_Only way I can be sure of intelligent conversation. Well, that and Baralai._

_You're thinking about him again. You're always thinking about him. Stop that and comfort Cid's girl, for goodness' sake!_

He closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall. "...you're right. I'm... sorry." He mentally cursed his voice – somehow he couldn't sound as if he was taking the situation seriously. "I'm really sorry."

_Brilliant._

_Great, now I'm mocking myself. Does anyone _not _mock me?_

_Baralai?_

_That's not true – he laughs at me sometimes... and look, now I'm thinking about him again. SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE? SEE IT?!_

_You would have started thinking about him anyway. Seriously, you can't blame all of your problems on your own thoughts. You can't distance yourself from your own thoughts by thinking in second person and then arguing with yourself._

_...that's true. Shut up. Stop analysing me._

_There you go again._

Gippal was startled out of his internal dialogue when Rikku began to laugh. This was not the reaction he had expected.

"Okay, I think I might've missed something here. What's so funny?"

She grinned cheerfully at him. "You don't have to apologise so much, y'know. I actually think that it's kind of cute."

"_Cute?_"

"I just think you'd make a pretty good couple."

Gippal stared at her, utterly astounded. "..._Cute?_"

"Abso-posi-you-better-believe-it," she said, in cheerful mockery of Gippal's words before the fight with Vegnagun. "You guys look _great_ together. We saw some of those Spheres from your journey, remember?" She smirked and imitated his voice. " 'Got anythin' _exciting_ planned?' ...I think I began to give up any hope of 'capturing your heart' aaaall the way back then, 'cause I thought that you and Baralai were just _too cute._"

Gippal groaned and began to beat his head rhythmically against the wall, ignoring Rikku's chirpy "Good luck with him!" to the best of his ability.


End file.
